AGI Buys Heller-Kowitz in First Brokerage Deal as Active Agency Acquirers Fall to 68
Updated
Updated · Insurance Business · Aug 7
AGI Buys Heller-Kowitz in First Brokerage Deal as Active Agency Acquirers Fall to 68
3 articles · Updated · Insurance Business · Aug 7
Summary
American Growth Insurance used its purchase of Baltimore-based Heller-Kowitz Insurance Advisors to enter insurance brokerage, launching a Mid-Atlantic roll-up strategy; financial terms were not disclosed.
AGI said the model was built before the deal: it tested technology with 10 agencies for about a year and claims the pilot lifted average profitability by more than 50% through revenue and productivity gains.
The acquisition lands in a tighter M&A market, with 68 unique buyers active in the first half of 2026 and trailing 12-month agency transactions at 646, the lowest rolling total since early 2019.
That buyer pool is shrinking even as roughly 30,000 independent agencies under $1.25 million in revenue remain in operation, many lacking succession plans, giving new entrants like AGI a chance to differentiate on structure and governance.
Private-capital-backed buyers still dominate despite the slowdown, accounting for 75% of trailing 12-month deals and 70.5% of 241 announced U.S. brokerage deals through the end of May.